Bitter Blood (Morganville Book #2)

Chapter 15

I portaled us directly into the Glass House. I breathed an involuntary sigh of relief at finding Justin sitting on the couch, staring at a flickering TV screen like it held the secrets of the universe, and Eve pacing the hallway in her clumpy boots.

Eve spotted us first, screamed, and threw herself on me like a warm Goth blanket. "Oh God, everybody thought you were dead! Or, you know, Bishoped, which would have been worse, right? What happened? Where did you go?"

Over Eve's shoulder, I saw that Justin had gotten to his feet. "You all right? I was so worried" he asked. I nodded, and he closed his eyes in sudden relief. I patted Eve's back, in thanks, love, and a little bit of get-the-hell-off-me . Eve got the message. She backed up, sniffling a little, and couldn't keep a smile from ruining her sad-clown makeup.

"Sorry about that," I said. "I . . . well. It wasn't exactly my idea, and I can't really explain. . . ."

"But you're okay. No fang marks or . . . " Eve's gaze darted past me, and she stopped talking. Stopped moving, too.

Justin, on the other hand, moved fast, putting himself between me and Jason. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"Fuck you too, Bieber."

"Shut up," Sam said, and gave Jason a warning shake that must have rattled his bones. "He's here because I didn't want to kill him. Any other questions?"

Eve still wasn't saying anything. I couldn't blame her; she had the same kind of conflicted emotions passing over her face that Justin had when he thought about his dad. Love/hate/loss. That sucked, when Jason was standing right there. She hadn't really lost him. Not yet.

Michael went to her, the same way Justin had gone to me - to get between her and her brother. "He's not welcome here," Michael said, and that put the force of the Founder House behind it. I felt a pressure building, getting ready to evict Jason and - presumably - Sam, if Sam didn't let go of him.

"Wait," Sam said. "You send him out there, he's dead from all sides, and you know it. Bishop has no use for him, hasn't since Jason's assassination attempt failed. Amelie would kill him without blinking. You really want to do that to your girlfriend's brother?"

"Michael, don't," Eve said. "He won't hurt us." And everyone rolled their eyes at that. Even Jason, which was borderline hilarious.

"Look," Jason said, "all I want is a way out of this stupid town. You arrange that, and I'll never show my face around here again. You can keep your stupid hero life-style. I just want out."

"Too late," Justin said. "Last bus already left, man. And we're thirty minutes away from Bishop's big town hall meeting. You can run, but you can't hide. Anybody who isn't there is dead. He's going to send out hunters. It'll be open season."

"I could stay here," Jason said quickly. "Upstairs. In the secret room, right?"

We all looked at one another.

"Oh, come on, it's not like I'm going to run up your phone bill and watch pay-per-view. Besides, if I was going to kill you in your sleep, I would have already done it." He made a kissy-face at Justin. "Even you, asswipe."

"Jesus, Jason." Eve sighed. "Do you want to end up in the landfill, or what?" She touched Michael on the arm, and he glanced back at her and took her hand. "Can you tell if he lies to us?"

"Uh, no. Drinking blood doesn't make me a lie detector."

Sam spoke up somberly. "I can." He shrugged when Michael gave him an odd look. "It's just a skill. You pick it up, over time. People can't control their bodies the way vampires can. I can usually tell when they're lying."